Funding
EIC STEP
European Innovation Council
EIC STEP provides large-scale equity investments to help promising European deep-tech, clean-tech, and biotech companies in strategic sectors scale up and strengthen Europe’s economic and technological competitiveness.
What is this programme about?
The EIC STEP Scale Up call presents a unique opportunity for ambitious scale up companies (SMEs and small mid-caps) with game-changing innovations in Europe’s critical technology areas. It offers a powerful combination of financial and strategic support designed to propel your groundbreaking solution to the forefront of these sectors.
Who can apply for EIC STEP
This call provides significant funding to fuel groundbreaking innovation in strategic technologies, propelling Europe’s economic, industrial, and technological competitiveness. This is a new call that has been introduced as a pilot action following the STEP Regulation to address an important market gap in financing deep tech scale up companies in Europe and to inform decisions on future support.
Key Facts
Who can apply
SMEs at scale-up or small mid-cap stage
Funding calls
One deadline for Step 1 in 2026
Purpose
Scaling commercialisation of deep-tech
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
TRL8 – TRL9
Funding Amount
Equity investment of between €10m and €30m
Funding Rate
N100%
Timeframe
3 – 6 months
Process
You need 20% investment pre-committed to apply to EIC STEP
What are the key topics or sectors covered?
The SME applicant must be working in one of these technology areas:
- Digital Technologies
- Clean and Resourece Efficient Technologies
- Biotechnologies
Useful Resources
We have collated some useful resources if you are considering applying for EIC STEP:
